KAYAK TO KLEMTU

Zoe Hopkins | CANADA | 2017 | 90 MIN | pg | Dramatic Feature

When Dave Ellis (Evan Adams), a prominent Kitasoo/Xai'Xais activist, passes away, his 14-year-old niece Ella (Ta'Kaiya Blaney) makes it her mission to take his ashes home to Klemtu and stand in his place at a community gathering against a proposed pipeline that would bring oil tankers through their beloved homeland waters. Strengthened by her determination and her youthful spirit, Ella embarks on the kayak journey she planned to take with her Uncle Dave through the Inside Passage along the beautiful shores of the Great Bear Rainforest. Along for the journey are her aunt, cousin, and her cranky uncle Don (Lorne Cardinal). It’s a race against the clock, as the four paddle to make the community gathering in time for Ella to give the speech of her life. Zoe Hopkins’s first feature film is a delightful family adventure that speaks to our heart and minds about the importance of protecting our lands for the generations to come.

Zoe Hopkins (Heiltsuk/Mohawk) was born in Bella Bella, a Heiltsuk fishing village on the coast of B.C., home to her mother and maternal family, in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest. She now lives in her father’s community of Six Nations, where she is raising her son, and where she teaches the Mohawk language online to students across Turtle Island. Zoe is an alumna of the Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program. She was a member of both iterations of imagineNATIVE’s groundbreaking Embargo Collective in 2009 and 2014 and she also has her first virtual reality work in imagineNATIVE this year